Submissions to USTR for the 2008 Special 301 Report Posted Online

USTR’s annual Special 301 Report identifies countries viewed
as denying sufficient intellectual property protection to US companies.If a country is listed as a “priority foreign
country” in the report, USTR may initiate a formal investigation of the country
within 30 days – the first step in the process of imposing bilateral trade
sanctions against a country.Countries
may also be included in the report’s “priority watch list” or “watch list,”
indicating USTR’s concern with their IP policies and/or enforcement.Significantly, a country in compliance with
the TRIPS Agreement may still be singled out for bilateral sanctions through
the 301 process.

Each year, USTR requests input from the public on what
countries should be included in the report.Most of the submissions it receives come from industry groups and
individual companies, and the resulting report (published at the end of April
each year) reflects their input.The
most detailed submissions each year come from the International
Intellectual Property Alliance and the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of AmericaSome come from the governments of foreign
governments from countries included in the report in previous years.There is very little civil society
participation in the process – last there was one nonprofit that submitted
comments (Knowledge Ecology International),
and this year there were none.